December 23, 2012

Today, a relatively brief piece of tape (just under 12 minutes) that I find
quite magical. It was buried deep in the middle of side two of a tape which was
otherwise taken up with musical performances. The text on the box indicated that
all of the recordings contained on it were from 1953, with this particular one
specified as having been made on December 25, with the added note "Todd's first
talking Christmas".

What you'll hear is a sound which will be (and has been) no doubt repeated all over the world this December, and every December for more years than any of us have been here. Things start off relatively quietly, with toddler Todd being walked through the opening of a handful of gifts, before daddy steers him towards something special - a train! Around the eight minute mark of this tape, Todd gets cranky for just a minute, but it passes very quickly (with the help of some questionable, yet tried and true words, from his parents), and within two minutes he is shrieking with joy at his new toy.

I love the end of this tape regardless, but particularly when heard after the section with the gift being received, the last two minutes here are, to my ears, pure magic.